Mental Health Challenges amongst Concerns
By Maxine Tuwila Lesivou
femLINKpacific has resumed it’s UNSCR 1325 meeting in the district of Lami after a lapse of 6 years; bringing together a total of twenty-five (25) Rural Women Leaders on Monday.
Susan Grey, femLINKpacific’s Executive Director says the organization is looking forward to supporting rural women and girls within the district of Lami, to meet their Human Security Priorities. “We are happy that femLINKpacific has returned to Lami to convene a diverse rural women’s network and to support women and girls and the communities of Lami in striving for gender equality and gender justice in the middle of a pandemic and growing human security threats.”
Grey added, “Lami already has strong women leaders and in feminist solidarity, we have returned to convene and help grow and amplify the voices of rural women, as we believe that transformative change can be achieved through the power of local women’s networks and through local-level convenings.”
There were a number of recommendations from femLINKpacific’s Rural Women Leaders Community Media Network members (RWLCMN) in Lami on issues affecting their Human Security priorities.
“Partnerships and network amongst identified groups in (creating) awareness so women are able to cope on a daily basis,” said Maritina Diti, a representative from Strumphet Alliance Fiji Network.
Diti added that women are experiencing increasing mental health challenges from stress and struggles on a daily basis, especially with their school children being at prolonged periods at home, due to the shut-down of the schools because of the second wave.
“Women are already struggling. Schools are closed and we’re not able to buy data for our children because most of our bread winners are without a job – and this adds to our daily stress and struggles. ”Echoing Diti’s statement was Salanieta Lawakeli, a youth representative of Lami Village.
Lawakeli said that students were experiencing difficulties accessing online programs due to limited resources and the financial burdens on their families. “For some students in our community, trying to find money for data to go online is really hard since their parents are without a job and they cannot meet their daily needs because the cost of living is really high.”
The convening discussions noted that some communities, the women would gather their children together out of their home bubbles to access a single device that is available in their community for zoom or virtual classes.
Ashie Naisara, a life long member of femLINKpacific said that the Mama Ashie Project is trying to cater for the needs of mothers and their children during this pandemic. She adds that access to education is a major issue at the moment with most of the communities in the district of Lami.
“We have identified donors to help these families that have been affected during this pandemic and these supports will go towards the education of their children. A lot of families in Lami aren’t fortunate to be able to provide technical equipment for their children so we try as much as we can to support them”, Naisara added.
Recommendations from these women leaders include the need for relevant Ministries to provide assistance for students especially when technologyy is involved. Access to Education is a major concern for these women leaders.
Frances Qounadovu, the representative from Delana Women’s Group said, “teachers and the Ministry of Education needs to look into this matter so that no child is left behind. Access to Education is what we are pushing for ever since the lockdown in April.”
RWLCMN Members in Lami were grateful for the opportunity as they’re able to voice their issues about what has been affecting them during this second-wave of the pandemic and give recommendations.
“Thank you to femLINK for offering this space so that women can voice their issues in what’s happening in Lami. The organization can take these issues into relevant forums that help support these women leaders”, Ashie Naisara adds.
Communities represented in this convening include members of the LGBTIQ + community, Women leaders from Faith Based Organizations (FBO’s), Women living with disabilities, young women, women leaders from across women led groups in the District of Lami and members of the District Council of Social Services (DCOSS).
The Lami Rural Women’s Convening or Lami “Women’s Weather Watch” - is funded by the European Union through the “Building Community Resilience to Climate Change through Civil Society Action Project. (CRCC Project).
